


I Don't Dance

by SeahorseTrash



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluffy Ending, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-05 22:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5392289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeahorseTrash/pseuds/SeahorseTrash





	I Don't Dance

John Egbert had somehow convinced himself that the dance wasn't going to totally suck. Even though he couldn't do the cha-cha-slide if his life depended on it, he would still have fun with his friends. Besides, he really needed to get out more. The only time he ever left the house was to go the school and sometimes to Dave's house.

Dances really weren't his thing, though. Frankly, any event labeled "semi-formal" or nicer just didn't appeal to him in the slightest. The thing he really hated about these types of things was the dress code. He couldn't just walk in there in some baggy shorts and a t-shirt. He actually had to dress up for these shitty dances.

John felt like a total dork in the old faded blue button-down and plain trousers. The chunky rectangular glasses weren't really helping, but he sort of needed them to see, so they weren't exactly optional. His hair was a hopeless mess, but he didn't even bother to try and fix it. That one pesky cowlick just refused to budge.

Dave was supposed to drive him, but the guy had a terrible habit of being late, and for the stupidest reasons. One time, on the way to school, his "favorite song ever" came on, and they were late because he was too busy "getting his jam on". 

John figured he had just forgotten, because that also happened a lot. He was just about to make his way down to the garage, when the obnoxiously loud doorbell rang, almost making him piss himself. Luckily, all bodily fluids were kept under control, but a certain Dave Strider had watched the scene unfold from outside and was giggling like a dirty-minded 6th grader in the back of science class.

Dave was a pretty cool guy, by everyone else's standards, at least. In reality, he was just a regular dude who happened to sport a pair of sweet shades.

He was also kind of an asshole, but only for the sake of irony, of course.

He had that stupid haha-sorry-just-kidding-I-meant-to-do-that smirk as John opened the door with a sigh. "Surprise! You get to save your gas money!" he exclaimed. "Strider never disappoints!"

"Shut up," John muttered, beginning to regret his decision already. "We're going to be late."

"We will be fashionably late. Well, at least I will," Dave joked, adjusting his perky bow tie and smoothing his hair to make a point. The rest of his outfit blended perfectly with his cool-kid aesthetic: a pair of candy apple red skinny jeans and a crisp white button-down, all topped off by his perfect blonde hair and killer shades.

The two boys made their way over to the school, occasionally fighting over the radio and complaining when the other changed the station. After trying to park for what felt like half an hour, they finally met up with their friends.

"Jade! Rose!" John shouted and waved at them as entered the gym, now decorated with cheap LED lights and dollar-store streamers. Dave promptly laughed at him for being a massive dork.

The girls were chatting by the punch bowl, but not daring to take any, because who knows what they put in that stuff? Some angsty pop-punk song was playing and some fangirls were screaming their heads off. It was just the typical shitty school dance.

"You two actually decided to show?" Rose teased. "You just missed Eridan's first rejection of the night. I think both the Amporas have been turned down at least once already."

"Haha, those guys are so weird!" John laughed, watching the older Ampora getting slapped in the face by Meenah. 

"Yeah, they literally hit on everyone, even us," Jade agreed, a hint of disgust in her voice.

The joyful banter of the teens was interrupted by the rather loud honk, followed by hoarse shouting. As They turned to see what was going on, Gamzee and Karkat fell to the ground, the scrawnier of the two being crushed by the juggalo.

"GET OFF ME YOU-OW!" 

"Should we help him?"John asked Dave.

"Nah." 

\--

"I hate this song," Dave stated as an overplayed Taylor Swift song reached the third chorus. "Like, we get it, you're never, ever getting back together. You don't need to write fifty shitty songs about it."

"Why don't you ever DJ, Dave?" Jade asked. "You'd be good!"

Dave had asked himself that same question last time he went to one of these things, but then he saw the song request sheet. There was simply no way he would play most of those songs, even if it was for ironic purposes. He would never waste him time on that shit.

"That is true," he bragged. "But if I were too busy working the tables, how would I dance?"

He then did a sassy turn and some crazy move nobody really recognized, mainly because it wasn't anything a white dad at a barbecue could pull off, specifically John's dad, who was especially uncoordinated. As the old saying goes, "like father, like son".

"Okay, Dave," Rose teased, rolling her eyes. "We know you think you're cool. You don't have to remind everyone."

Dave squeezed in a quick "don't hate me 'cause you ain't me" before another group of girls screamed from across the gym, although it sounded like they were screaming directly in his ear.

"Damn," he groaned, covering his ears. "Can they just turn it down like, ten notches? What the heck are they even screaming about?" 

One of those cheesy slow songs from a cliche chick-flick had just started, and some girls were nervously glancing in the boys' direction, wondering if any of them would grow a pair and ask them. 

Of course, this being a school dance, there was that one couple that everyone was squealing over. In this particular case, it was that skater girl, Latula, and her weird boyfriend, Mituna. Everyone agreed that they were pretty cute, but Mituna just looked so uncomfortable in the awkward mummy slow dance position. Kurloz and Muelin weren't dancing, but they sat by the bleachers being all adorable and shit. Gamzee had playfully grabbed Karkat and forced him to dance, sloppily twirling him with that drunken smile on his face. Karkat was not amused. Cronus was standing against a wall, trying to get Kankri to dance, but was immediately rejected. Almost everyone had a partner. Heck, even Rose and Kanaya were dancing. They were probably the best dancers, doing their own little version of the waltz, most likely choreographed by a drunk Lalonde of the past.

It seemed as though everybody had found someone to dance with, or at least talk to, except for Dave and John.

"So," Dave said, attempting to make awkward conversation. His only hope was to do something ironic, like ask John to dance. "I guess, by process of elimination, this leaves you and me, man."

John chuckled nervously. He wasn't sure if Dave was actually being serious, but he didn't seem like the type to joke about serious stuff, like school dances, obviously. "Are you kidding or..."

"Dammit Egbert, do I look like I'm kidding?" Dave said in his signature Strider-sarcasm tone. "C'mon, dance with me, bro! I won't go all Shakira on you, I promise!"

John blushed about as red as Dave's pants. "Uh, I can't..." 

"You can't dance? Dude, I know. That's the best part!" Dave exclaimed, remembering the time John tried to do the hokey pokey. "Just follow me and try not to break anything."

"Um, ok." John looked around to make sure no one was watching, because of course, he wouldn't want people to start rumors about him being gay. According to his own repeated statements, John Egbert was not a homosexual. He figured one stupid dance with his friend wouldn't mean anything.

Dave hesitated for a moment, then placed his hands on John's shoulders, cliche school-dance style. He hadn't planned for this to actually work.

The truth was, Dave was actually pretty fond of John, but he never really said anything because they were best friends, and he wouldn't want to ruin that. He had seen how his brother's rushed romance had ended and didn't want the same to happen to him. 

Now that it was actually happening, Dave didn't see what he had been so worried about. Sure, it was weird and awkward as hell at first, but he soon found himself fighting a smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He had to resist to urge to hug John, which was difficult because he was definitely the most adorable dork he knew.

John wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the situation, or what to do for that matter. He just let Dave do whatever the hell you were supposed to do when you dance, because as was previously mentioned, John was a worse dancer than his dad. He'd lost track of how many times he had clumsily stepped on Dave's foot.

As they slowly danced their way out of the friend-zone, Dave didn't seem to mind a few confused stares, or the fact that John had probably stepped on his foot at least three times already. He was just happy that John hadn't run away screaming "I'm not a homosexual!" John's awkward grip on his shoulders was possibly the best part. It was so obvious he had no idea what he was doing, but Dave knew exactly what he was doing, so that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was one step closer to what he had wanted for almost two years now: John.

He was so focused on planning his next move, Dave didn't even really notice the small crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle—that is, until someone spoke up.

"Um, Dave?" Rose held back a giggle as she tapped on his shoulder. "You know the song is over, right?"

It was at that moment that Dave realized how stupid he looked just then, still clinging to John after he had let go. He needed to save himself somehow.

"What? Can't two bros dance like a couple in a cheesy 80's chick flick if they want to?" He tried to defend himself against what he knew was coming.

"I'm just surprised you had the guts to go through with it," she said, as she had known all along. She was pretty sure everyone knew about how Dave felt except for John, which was probably the only thing about him that was truly ironic.

"Rose, shut up!" Dave scolded under his breath, giving her that I-swear-to-god-if-you-ruin-this-for-me-I-am-going-to-kill-you look.

"I'm confused," John stated, although his facial expression said enough. "Did you guys plan this or are you just a psychic or something?" That would explain how Rose always knew when he was trying to prank her. Either that or she just had a brain, and could see the tripwires he set up. Seriously, he used yarn, of all things.

"I'm not confirming the latter, but I did not plan this. I simply figured it would happen sooner or later." She grinned in that creepy, yet strangely friendly way that only she could. "Come on, Jade, we should leave them alone for a few minutes." If she hadn't turned in the other direction, the boys would've seen her not-so-subtle wink directed at Dave, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Shut up, Rose," Dave muttered. It was then that he realized he may have just bitten off a bit more than he could chew. He wasn't sure how he would explain himself. John might've been a little slow, but there was no doubt he knew something was up.

"Hey, John," he said. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He tried to fight the blood rushing to his face, but he was so nervous, he couldn't help it.

Dave took him outside where it was quiet and no one would bother them. He tried to plan out what he was going to say, but his brain wasn't supplying him with any good ideas at the moment. 

He contemplated taking off his shades, but instantly rejected the idea. His fiery eyes showed too much emotion. He wanted this to be quick, and extra unwanted feelings would only complicate things further.

They probably walked around in silence for a good ten minutes before John stopped. "So what did you want to talk about?" He asked. Dave felt like his sapphire blue eyes were piercing through his dark sunglasses. He hadn't realized just how beautiful John's eyes were until now.

Dave couldn't take it anymore. It was time to tell John the truth, or rather, in Dave's case, show him the truth. Before he stopped to even think about the consequences, Dave grabbed his friend by the collar and closed the space between them in a single swift movement, his eyes tightly shut the whole time.

John's eyes widened as he realized what was actually going on. He gasped and pushed Dave away from him, though it felt like he was still there. Nobody had ever kissed him before. He felt like the butterflies in his stomach were threatening to make an appearance. 

When Dave saw the look on his face, it was clear that he had messed up. "John, oh god! Shit, I'm sorry!" He jumped back, covering his blushing face in embarrassment. He cursed himself for being such an idiot. Why did he think trying to kiss John was a good idea? 

Dave feared the worst. "I-I have to go!" He turned and ran, almost slipping in his frantic sprint.

"Dave, wait!" John yelled, but he was already gone.

His eyes beginning to water, Dave slumped down against the wall with his head hanging low, mentally punching himself in the face. He could hear John calling for him, but assumed he was going to be mad. 

But John wasn't mad. He was just really confused, and though he didn't want to admit it, quite embarrassed by the situation. He couldn't really make sense of it. There were too many questions. Did Dave like him or something? Why did he kiss him? Why had John pushed him away like that? What did this all mean? What would happen to them?

He found his friend crouched outside the doors to the gym, picking away at the grass in frustration.

"Dave?" He knelt down next to him.

Dave looked up for a moment, but only let his head drop again, so that John couldn't see the tears staining his cheeks. "I'm such a fucking idiot," he muttered to himself.

"Dave, do you... you know... like me like that?" He managed to stutter out. He had never seen Dave sad before, and it hurt to see him like this. John felt like it was all his fault.

"Do you hate me?" Dave asked, still refusing to look at John.

"Dave..." John leaned over and wrapped his arms around Dave's curled up figure. "Dave I couldn't hate you, no matter what. You're my best friend."

Dammit, that's not enough, Dave thought, though he wouldn't dare say it aloud. He wished he could just start over, and not screw everything up. He wished he wasn't so stupid. He wished he didn't have this stupid crush, and on John Egbert, of all people.

"C'mon," John said, offering to help Dave up. "Let's go back inside. Jade and Rose are probably looking for us."

Dave discretely wiped his eyes and took John's hand as they walked back to the gym. "I'm sorry," he whispered once more.

By the time they made it back inside, the dance was almost over, and people were starting to leave. The DJ was giving out a few last announcements. "I hope everybody had fun tonight!" His overly joyful voice echoed over the loudspeaker. "I'm gonna leave you with one last song. We're gonna end tonight with a slow one. Grab someone, anyone, and make this one count."

The boys looked at each other nervously, wondering what the other was thinking. Dave glanced in His friend's direction, who just gave a weak smile. This was his last chance.

Without saying a word, Dave once again grabbed John to dance, and this time, it was for real. He didn't just awkwardly rest his arms on John's shoulders. He blocked out the entire world around him and held on tight. John hugged him back as he felt the warm tears dripping on his back. He hoped they were tears of joy. He had decided he never wanted to see Dave cry again.

John didn't think he was gay, but maybe, just this once, he could make an exception.


End file.
